


Of Children and Understandings

by distant_rose



Series: Little Pirates [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Captain Swan Children, F/M, Future Fic, In which I'm not happy with the lack of closure on Killian v Rumple, In which Killian is dramatic and will do anything for his kids, Most likely to be jossed but I don't care, Not the kindest rendition of Rumple, Overprotective Fathers, Post-Finale Battle BS, Some Fluff, Swan-Jones Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-02 20:43:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10952382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/distant_rose/pseuds/distant_rose
Summary: Killian Jones and the Dark One have an understanding when it comes to cohabiting Storybrooke post-The Final Battle: do not enter each other’s space, do not speak, do not look and certainly do not touch. Things waver when kids enter the mix and things need to be clarified, especially when Killian’s daughter Beth has a disturbing nightmare.





	Of Children and Understandings

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, gotta thank wellpthisishappening for listening, reading and encouraging my sorry ass to write this and others for my Little Pirates verse. Without her encouragement and commentary, I am nothing. We were both a little mad with how the show brought up the Hook v Rumple rivalry and just did nothing with it, and even worse, put them at the same dinner table for a family meal and act like nothing is wrong. So, yeah, this is my way of dealing with that while also serving you Dad!Killian because that's my jam. This will most definitely by jossed by the canon, but as they say on Mythbusters, “I reject your reality and substitute my own.” Not the friendliest take on Rumple, so heads up on that. Like, dislike or want to talk, you can talk to me on Tumblr via distant-rose.tumblr.com

 

There was a small fragile alliance between Killian Jones and the Dark One. No, alliance wasn’t the correct term. It assumed far too much civility than either men were willing to put into this…truce? No. Not truce. That was also too strong of a word. It was more of an…understanding between predators. They would ceasefire in the name of family, but they would remain on their own separate turfs. Killian would stick to one side of the room. Rumpelstiltskin would stay on the other. No words would be spoken. No looks would be shared. Only Belle and Henry could across between their territories and both were intelligent enough to not mention one in front of the other. It worked…for the most part at least.

And then, Killian and Emma brought three little ones into the world. His firstborn and spitting image Harrison Liam Jones came into the world almost exactly nine months after the Final Battle. (Neither are quite sure if their son was conceived in wedlock or out of it but Killian personally hoped it happened sometime during the honeymoon week they had locked themselves away in there home, completely enamored with each other and finally at peace.) They brought him to Granny’s nearly a week after he was born, ready to introduce the little lad to the world, and that was when everything in the past few months started to falter in this understanding between them.

Belle had immediately come over to their table to see the child, cooing and smiling over the babe while the Dark One lingered at the door, respecting the boundaries that had been unspoken but well established. Belle had brushed her hand against Harrison’s downy head and commented on his striking resemblance to his father. It was in that moment that Killian had peered up from his son to see the Dark One staring at the babe rather intensely with cold and glittering eyes. He made no movement nor did he offer any comment; he just stared at Killian’s son with an expression that could only be read as unnerving. Killian felt every hair on his body stand at attention and held the boy more fiercely to his chest, eliciting a cry of protest from his son. For the entire time the Golds were in the diner, Killian’s entire body was poised and ready for action - to defend his son from any possible attack. None came. The Dark One did not break the rules of their understanding, but something had wavered.

The staring continued on when the next boy, Westley Graham Jones, was born, and if anything the looks became uglier. Westley had been blessed with both Emma’s smile and pale blonde hair, but he had inherited his father’s eyes and nearly everyone commented on it, calling them Killian Blue. It seemed this inheritance were more bothersome than his eldest’s uncannily similar visage to the Dark One, and Wes and Gideon’s budding friendship only seemed to exacerbate the Dark One’s silent ire. (Killian could not help but wonder if his younger son enjoyed causing controversy and chaos. He always seemed to find ways to make them all anxious.) However, still he made no move and said not a word, but continued to stare. Harrison and Westley crawled, squirmed and threw crayons across the table while emitting cute little toddler giggles unaware that they were being watched under a crocodile’s gaze. However, Killian knew and he kept himself alert at all times, rarely allowing the boys to leave his sight while he alternated his wary attention between them and the Dark One. While the boys played and prattled unaware of the predator on the other side of the room, Killian stood as a silent sentry, waiting.

Their last child Elizabeth Alice Jones was not planned. (Surprise, surprise, they were one in three in the planning department; one in four if one counted Henry and Killian always did.) They had firmly decided that two small kids and a near-college student was enough for them, but fate had other designs when Emma fell pregnant with their little girl who came into the world with his raven hair, Emma’s eyes and cupid's bow lips. Killian was gone for her the moment that she opened her eyes when they placed her in his arms. They called her their Princess Elizabeth (and then Hurricane Elizabeth when she turned out to be colicky) until they decided it was a mouthful and that they needed to give this little one a nickname as they did with Wes. (For some reason, they never felt inclined to do this with Harrison, but Harrison so adeptly fit his eldest. It felt wrong to call him anything else, especially something like Harry.) It was Belle who gave their girl her true name after Killian vehemently protested against Lizzie - Beth after Belle’s favorite character from the novel Little Women.

“Because she's so sweet,”  Belle had said before giving their daughter a delicate kiss upon the little mop of chocolate brown curls. The Dark One continued to stare  with an odd gleam in his eyes as his wife doted upon Killian’s daughter and Emma proclaimed Beth was the winning nickname for the child. It made Killian more uneasy and the protectiveness that he felt towards his children increased tenfold.

Killian initially liked the nickname because Beth was perfect in the same way Harrison had been perfect for his firstborn and Wes had been perfect for their younger son. However, his enthusiasm was severely dimmed by the fact that Belle’s favorite character died in the novel and that all that excitement turned to ash. He struggled with that; naming his daughter after a character known for her poignant death. In the end, they ultimately decided to keep “Beth” for their daughter because it fit her better than anything else. However, Killian privately came to the decision to ensure that Beth Jones was nothing like Beth March. His daughter never left his side at Granny’s in the presence of the Dark One. He followed her even into the restroom, the instinct to protect even stronger with her than with his boys. There was something about the little girl that made him want to shield her in the same fashion that dragons guarded their most prized treasure. Emma called him a “bubble wrap dad” for it.

It was Beth who took notice of the Dark One and his stare where her brothers didn’t. His precious girl had been running after David and Snow’s latest addition Ruthie, both of them painfully adorable with matching dark hair and matching pink cupcakes; the two girls looking more like twins than aunt and niece. Where Ruthie had kept along her path to her parents, Beth had stopped in all motions, frozen in the same way a small deer stiffened at the sound of a snapping twig. Her head tilted, green eyes crossing over the invisible territory line. Every single part of Killian arose in alarm as he watched his little girl make eye contact with the Dark One. No one around them seemed to notice. The staredown between them was lasting uncomfortably long and it resembled too much of the held gaze between predator and prey before a final kill for Killian to stand around idly waiting for the Dark One any longer. He crossed the diner, scooping his little one into his arms and thus breaking the exchange. Beth’s tiny arms became an immediate vice grip around him and he felt a slight pain in his neck as his daughter’s fingers curled into a fist around his pirate’s luck and gave the chain a yank. He cradled his daughter’s head into his shoulder, placing a fevered kiss on Beth’s brow while turning his attention to the Dark One; blue eyes blazing with near uncontainable rage.

They may have stolen glances at each other over the near decade since the Final Battle, but they have never made eye contact; both painstakingly doing their best to avoid the other and upholding the understanding that they’ve had now for years. The Dark One may have never crossed into his territory or spoken to him and his immediate family, but this was a clear and unmistakable violation that Killian could no longer tolerate. Every fiber in Killian’s being wanted to rip out Rumpelstiltskin's spine with his bare hands, but the “peace” needed to be held for the family. He just hoped that the Dark One understood the message he was trying to convey: his children were off limits.

The Dark One seemed to get the message and scoffed lightly in response as if he couldn’t believe the silent threat he was receiving. However, he did almost immediately turn his attention to Belle and made some comment to her that Killian cared very little about. The only thing he cared about it at the moment was that the Dark One would stop staring at his children and frightening his precious little ones.

“Hello my sweetling. Granny’s made you some macaroni and cheese. Want to go get some of that, love?” Killian murmured softly to Beth, rubbing soothing circles into her back as he tried to banish the encounter between her and the Dark One away with her favorite food and comforting motions.

His normally loquacious child merely nodded her head in response and Killian felt his anger bubble under his skin in tenfold. He held her tighter against him as if he could fuse her to his person through sheer physical and mental will. He showered her forehead with kisses as he spun on his heel away from the invisible borderline and brought her back to their table, sitting her between himself and Emma. A smile returned to Beth’s face when a huge bowl of cheesy noodles was placed in front of her. Killian felt everything wash away under the force of his relief at that smile. It appeared his daughter had walked away from her first encounter with the Dark One unscathed.

Or so he thought.

* * *

 

Killian awoke to the unmistakable sound of crying a few days after the incident. His wife, completely exhausted from the day prior, didn’t even stir but Killian, whose hearing had always been acute, was out of their bed in seconds. He nearly sprinted down the hall, pausing only to put on a pair of sleep pants and his hook, in search of the disturbance. Once he was out of the room, the sound was no longer as muffled and he recognized the sound as belonging to his daughter.

He found Beth curled into a ball on her toddler bed, big eyes scrunched as fat tears rolled her baby cheeks when he entered her room. (She was five and should have been put in a regular bed by now like her brothers, but she was so tiny that they were pretty sure that they could squeeze another one or two years out of the toddler bed. The way she was curled up only seemed to emphasize this point.) Her entire face was bright red and it was more than apparent to him that she had been crying far longer than he had been awake.

“Daddy…” She whimpered. She sounded terrified and it broke him.

Killian was far too big to be laying in a toddler bed, but that didn’t stop him from climbing aboard and pulling his daughter on top of him so that her ear landed in the middle of his chest. His left shoulder was hanging off, and his feet as well as the majority of his legs below his knees were dangling in the air, but none of this mattered. When Beth was an infant, she (and her brothers before her) almost never slept unless she was laid across his chest while in the tub, lulled by the sound of water and his heartbeat. He wasn’t sure if a bath would help now that she was a big preschooler, but hopefully the sound of his heart was still a comfort to her. He made a motion to unclick his hook, but Beth reached out and grabbed it as it was her habit and curled her fingers around it like it was her lifeline until the skin of her knuckles grew white and taunt. A deep unnamable emotion lodged itself in his throat at the desperate action.

“I’m here, my little minnow, I’m here,” he murmured against her hair. His eyes squeezed shut as a little hiccup racked her small body. “Daddy’s got you.”

“He took my heart, Daddy,” she half-cried, half-whispered and everything inside Killian nearly shut down at her words.  
  
His blood went ice cold in his veins and a maelstrom of anger, hysteria and sheer terror wreaked havoc inside of him. He knew exactly who “he” that Beth had been referring to. Against his will, the violent memory of the Dark One taking Milah’s heart and crushing it before his eyes flashed in his mind. It was painfully followed by a similar scene, except now it was his daughter, his precious little one, and he was watching the light dim in those green eyes that were the exact same shape and color as Emma’s. His own predator, the one that lived deep inside of him since he had decided to set aside his revenge against Rumpelstiltskin, howled in outrage. This could not be. Almost immediately he placed his hand down on her chest and he thanked every star in the sky that her heart was still there, beating frantically against his palm.  
  
“It’s there, minnow,” he whispered back to her, his voice nearly hitching with emotion. He moved to bring the hand that was wrapped around his hook to her chest so she could feel her own heartbeat, but she steadily refused to let go. However, she was more amenable to letting go of the fist she had made around his pirate’s luck and he was able to place that hand in the middle of her chest instead. He placed his own hand on top of hers and gave it a squeeze. “See? It’s there. He didn’t take it. He can’t take it, my sweet thing. It’s safe.”

Beth’s crying slowed as she felt her own heartbeat and Killian’s hand moved to card itself into her hair as he kissed her forehead, just resting his lips on the patch of skin under her hairline. He sighed as her breathing became less labored, breathing in her scent to soothe his own emotional state.

“I’m scared…” Her voice wavered as the two words hung in the air.

“You shouldn’t be, little love,” he murmured against her forehead. “You have me, and you have Mommy…Grandpa David, Grandma Snow, Henry, Harrison, Wes...Neal, Ruthie...even Regina, Zelena and Bobbi...We’re all here to protect you…”

Beth was silent for a moment. The only sounds that could be heard in the room was the sounds of their breathing. Hers was still a bit more labored than his with the occasional hiccup passing her lips. She moved her body so she was lying on her side instead of the awkward contortion that she had going on before when she was too upset to be uncomfortable. She did however keep her head over his heart and had yet to let go of his hook, which of course led to her elbow being jabbed into his ribs as she moved. He had flinched a bit, but refused to let her know his discomfort.

“Mr. Gold wants to hurt me…” she said finally and Killian couldn’t breath when she did. His five-year old shouldn’t ever in a million years think that someone wanted to hurt her, let alone when they were supposed to be at peace. His intense anger returned in tenfold, a fire set ablaze in his stomach.

“Why do you think that, minnow?” He asked, closing his eyes and pulling her body closer to his.

“He stares at me...and it’s not nice. He scares me.”

It was when she said this that he knew that the understanding had to end as it was. This could not stand and he would be damned if he stood idly by while the Dark One scared his children. He knew what he had to do.

“That’s not going to happen anymore, Little Beth,” he declared, looking down at her with a tight smile. He was already mentally preparing himself for tomorrow. He was going to finally confront the Dark One and lay down the law; something he should have done the first go around when Emma and him had brought Harrison to Granny’s when he was only a week old.

“You promise?” She asked and again, Killian’s heart broke.

“I promise,” he replied firmly, before taking his hand out of his daughter’s hair to grab at the pirate’s luck that hung around his neck. Beth watched in fascination as he removed the chain and pulled it over his head. “You know how Mommy has Uncle Liam’s ring and that’s supposed to protect her right?”

Beth nodded mutely, her eyes completely focused on the clinking charms. Killian couldn’t help but chuckle. Along with her fascination with his hook, Beth had always loved playing with the charms of his pirate’s luck. She had constantly yanked on them when she was a babe and though it had been painful at times, he had always found it to be endearing.

“Do you know what this is?” he asked with a gentle smile.

“It’s your necklace,” she answered.

“You’re not wrong, but it’s more than that. It’s my pirate’s luck and it wards off angry sea monsters that want to hurt your Daddy. And that includes crocodiles,” he said with a chuckle and a wink before he slipped it over his head. “And tonight, it’s going to protect you. Is that okay?”

She nodded enthusiastically; this time she let go of his hook so that she could play with the charms with both hands. Killian couldn’t help but be amused as he watched her, a happy hum trilling in his chest. He gave her another kiss.

“You still scared?” he asked with a small smile.

Beth didn’t even look up at him, so completely focused on the dangling skull and sword. She just shook her head, slightly reminding him of Henry and Harrison's half-hearted responses whenever they were focused on their video games. He was already dreading the moment when Wes got his own games to play with and then Killian would have three zombie boys ignoring him instead of just two.

Killian gave her hair one last run through before he decided it was time to get up and return to his own bed. He hadn’t noticed until that moment how uncomfortably he was hanging off the toddler bed. His knees were starting to complain as both of his lower halves of his legs had been awkwardly dangling off the end of the bed for at least a good twenty minutes now. He tried to move Beth off his chest so he could lay her back in her bed, but she squeaked in protest. She dropped his pirate’s luck and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck.  
  
“Don’t leave…” She cried in an almost frantic voice.  
  
“I gotta go back to my own bed, minnow,” he replied with a patient sigh, giving her cheek an affectionate pat.  
  
“Stay, Daddy,” she pleaded, tears started to brim in the corners of her eyes and she gave him the world’s saddest looking pout. Gods above help him, he could not disappoint her when she gave him that look. He was grateful he only had one daughter. He wasn’t sure he or his heart could handle another one of Beth.  
  
“Alright, love, alright,” he sighed, laying back down and resigning himself to the fact that he was going to wake up sore as hell. Emma would not be pleased with him. He couldn’t bring himself to entirely regret the decision however when Beth snugged into his chest and looked up at him like he was the biggest hero in all of the realms.  
  
“I love you, Daddy,” she whispered sleepily.  
  
“I love you too, my Little Beth,” he replied, giving her forehead one last kiss. "Now go to sleep."

Killian waited for her breath to even out before quietly unholstering his hook and allowing it to fall to the floor before bringing Beth’s sleeping body closer to his and pressing his nose into her wild hair. He allowed his eyes to droop and he fell asleep, lulled by the smell of citrus L’Oreal Kids shampoo and detangler, Emma’s sugar cookies (no doubt stolen and consumed after Beth’s tub) and Beth’s own earthy scent.

* * *

 

 

The next morning, Killian helped his wife prep their children for the day the same as he always did. However, instead of joining her in the Bug to go to the station, he told her that he had errands to run before work and would join her later. She naturally went through a line of inquiry into what was the nature of these errands and when Killian would only tell that it had something to do with easing Beth’s nightmares, she huffed but relented; kissing his cheek and sternly telling him to get to the station as soon as he could manage.  
  
Killian didn’t hesitate, not even for a moment, before entering the territory of his mortal enemy. He strode into Gold’s Pawnshop fueled by the image of his daughter’s frightened face and his own righteous fury. The door slammed loudly behind him, rattling in its frame and Killian tried not to think about how it was a perfect metaphor for his mood.  
  
“Show yourself, Dark One,” Killian growled. He was in no state to wait for him to come as he pleased. This needed to be resolved now.  
  
Rumpelstiltskin appeared from one of the backrooms of his shop, his eyes cold as any reptile’s as he regarded Killian with a mixture of annoyance and blatant hatred. He was carrying a small leather black book in his hands, which Killian assumed was some sort of ledger.  
  
“The last time you said that coming into this shop, it didn’t bode well for you,” he replied. Though his tone was calm and measured, the sentence was punctuated with a loud snap as Rumpelstiltskin shut the book sharply as if he needed some way to express his ill temper without giving too much away. Killian knew the act well, mainly because he had performed it himself many times over his centuries of life.  
  
“Last time I was here, you aligned yourself with the bloody Black Fairy,” Killian responded tersely.  
  
Rumpelstiltskin stiffened at the mention of his mother. He turned away from Killian, opening the book in his arms again with a licked finger and proceeded to look for whatever page he had been on. Killian’s jaw clenched at the action. It was as good as a dismissal.  
  
“What do you want, pirate? I’m busy,” he asked in a bored tone, as if this exchange meant nothing to him. It was a good act, but Killian could very well see the tension in his shoulders.  
  
“Oh yes, you certainly look tied up at the moment,” Killian replied sarcastically, barely managing to keep from rolling his eyes. “I’m here because it seems we need some clarification on our understanding.”  
  
Rumpelstiltskin snapped the book shut again and placed it down on the counter with a solid thud. He leaned against it, his palms stretched out across the glass as he glowered at Killian; jaw working in irritation.  
  
“Obviously so,” he replied tightly, “because I thought the understanding was that we won’t eviscerate each other so long as we don’t talk, speak or look at each other...so please enlighten me on what needs to be clarified...”

Killian matched the Dark One’s pose, stretching his hand and hook across the countertop and looking him straight in the eye. Killian leaned forward until he was nearly on the verge of entering Rumpelstiltskin’s personal space, a habit he had picked up aboard the Jolly Roger when he was dealing with insolent crew members who had forgotten whose employ they were in.  
  
“Children.”  
  
“Children?” Rumpelstiltskin echoed with the raise of his eyebrows as if he had absolutely no clue as to what Killian could be referring to.  
  
“You know what I woke up to last night?” Killian asked, his fingers tapping against the glass tempestuously. Beth’s sobbing image still playing in his mind’s eye. It took everything inside of him to not punch the Dark One straight in the jaw. “My daughter crying.”  
  
There was a flicker of something in the Dark One’s eyes. It had happened in a fraction of a second, but it was something and though Killian wasn’t exactly sure what it was, he knew he didn’t like it. His hand moved to grip the corner of the glass, knuckles nearly turning white under the force. A part of him wanted to scratch the counter with his hook, to make some form of aggression to prove his point, but he had a mission and he had to stick to it.  
  
“I fail to see how this concerns me,” Rumpelstiltskin replied in a tone of indifference.

“She had a nightmare about you. You ripping her heart out!” Killian couldn’t help the snarl that emitted itself from his throat and he was sure if he hadn’t been gripping the countertop so hard, he would have smashed his fist against it. His brain kept altering between the images of Milah dying in his arms and his daughter fading as her heart was crushed; his first love and his last love, both black haired beauties, taken by the Dark One. No. Killian couldn’t stop Milah’s death, but as long as he breathed he would not allow any harm to come to Beth. He would not fail her too.

Rumpelstiltskin’s eyes went wide a fraction and he shifted in his stance, putting some distance between them as if he could sense that Killian was on the verge of snapping and he was preparing himself for the attack. The Dark One regarded Killian with an unreadable expression as he brought up his hand to worry his jaw.

“Whatever horror stories you tell your daughter about me are your issues, not mine,” he responded in an almost dangerously soft voice that made the hairs on the back of Killian’s neck stand on edge. He nearly brought his hook at attention in preparation of striking the Dark One if necessary.

However at the same time, the Dark One had brought up an excellent point. Emma and himself had decided long ago not to tell their children about certain aspects of their lives until they were old enough to handle it. They had even sat Henry down and made him promise to do the same. Neither David, Snow, Emma and himself were in the habit of talking about their nasty past with the Dark One and Regina, so focused on keeping the peace. How had Beth found out about the heart ripping? Who had been insane enough to tell stories of that nature to his daughter?

“I have never breathed a word about you to my daughter,” Killian responded in a nearly offended growled, before leaning forward again and hissing, “if it were up to me, she wouldn’t know you exist and we would be as far away from you as we possibly could be.”

“Well someone obviously said something to her and it wasn’t me. So perhaps you and the Savior should run along and go find that person and leave me in peace,” Rumpelstiltskin snapped back at him and he now looked ready to throw his little black ledger at Killian’s head.

While Killian privately agreed that he needed to find whoever had told Beth about the Dark One’s habit for heart ripping (and to scare them within an inch of their lives because who the bloody fuck thought it was alright to tell a preschooler, much less Killian’s daughter, about such horrors needed someone to knock a little sense into them), there was still the main matter at hand: the Dark One, his habit for staring and how it was affecting his daughter.

“She’s afraid of you because you stare at her like the bloody crocodile you are,” Killian spat in displeasure, looking at Rumpelstiltskin in absolute fury. “And don’t deny it. I caught you looking at her the other night. I’ve seen you watch all of them with those eyes and whatever you’re thinking in that disgusting head of yours when you do, I’m sure I could kill you for.”

The two men, both predators in their own right, regarded each other silently for a moment. No sound could be heard in the shop except for the milling of pedestrians outside. Killian severely hoped that a curious onlooker didn’t happen to look through and see them talking then gossip to the entire town that the Dark One and Captain Hook were at it again. Emma would kill him. Hell, Belle would kill him too. The sad fact of life was that both women would probably hold him more accountable for this than the Dark One himself. He tried not to think of the unfairness of that situation.

“That’s a lot of assuming there,” Rumpelstiltskin replied after a moment, and the casual and indifferent way he said it nearly had Killian’s rage boiling over.

“There’s no assuming! I’ve seen with my own damn eyes that you do it!” Killian retorted as he felt his anger course through his veins like molten lava. He had never hated a man more than he had hated the Dark One. He wanted nothing more than to strangle him, but that would get him nowhere. He let out a heavy breath and Rumpelstiltskin looked at him with a shadow of amusement.

“I don’t trust you,” Killian began, taking his hand away from the glass to form a tight fist. “I never will. The only reason I even tolerate your presence is because you’re Henry’s grandfather, Belle loves you and for some reason unknown to all David and Snow have forgiven you for all of your past transgressions. But I won’t. What you have done is unforgivable, but I have things in my life that mean more to me than my vengeance against you. So, this is what I want...you are going to leave my children alone. Do not look at them. Do not touch them. Do not even say their names.”

The Dark One scoffed at his speech, a sound that was mixed with disbelief and a tinge of amusement that Killian did not appreciate.

“That’s quite a list of demands. And Elizabeth is a very common name,” Rumpelstiltskin replied, making sure to slowly over-enunciate each syllable of his daughter’s name. Killian nearly saw red when he did it.

“Do not test me!” Killian shouted, slamming his fist against the glass counter and he felt the sheet vibrate precariously under the force. His eyes blazed, and Killian made sure he kept eye contact with the Dark One for his next words. “If you so much as touch a hair on my daughter’s head, I swear on every single thing that matters to me, and to you, that I will end you. I do not care if I have to destroy myself and become the Dark One once again to do it. I will do anything and everything in my power to ensure my children’s safety…Think of what you would do for your own son...then triple it.”

As Killian said the words, he realized in that moment that he actually meant them. If it meant keeping his precious little ones safe, he would surrender to the darkness again regardless of the consequences. They were worth it. They were worth everything. Rumpelstiltskin’s eyes widened at the declaration and he looked nearly as startled as Killian felt.

“Does the Savior know this about you? That you’re willing to become the Dark One again?” Rumpelstiltskin asked, eyes glittering and a strange sort of cruel smile contorted itself across his face. It only served to enrage Killian more.

“Don’t twist my words! For my children, I would do anything,” Killian snapped, eyes flashing again. “I don’t want to be the Dark One. Only you seem to covet that title like it's a treasure, but if it means keeping my little ones from harm...there’s nothing I would not do.”

“So what do I get out of this new understanding? Do you intend to keep to the same rules with my son?” Rumpelstiltskin asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest and leaning back against an old dingy cabinet. His face was once again impassive.

“I have no ill will towards your son,” Killian replied with a swallow.

“Really?” the Dark One asked, raising his eyebrows at him in challenge. “Never once looked upon him and remembered how he nearly destroyed your precious Savior?”

Killian gave him a hard look, tightening his fist again. That was a ridiculous question and Rumpelstiltskin knew it. Of course there were times where Killian looked upon Gideon and remembered Emma’s near death at his hands and sometimes it had been hard to reconcile that man with the sweet and quiet boy that followed around Wes like a shadow, tugging on Wes’s sleeve like it was a security blanket.

“What happened in the past was not his fault and from what I understand he’s quite a sweet lad, not unlike his mother…” Killian replied, giving him a significant look. “If it means you’ll leave my children alone, I will promise the same for Gideon, but with that said, I refuse to end the friendship between Wes and Gideon. My boy is your son’s only friend.”

Killian watched as the corners of Rumpelstiltskin’s mouth tightened at the mention of Gideon and Wes’s friendship. No doubt the Dark One was not happy with the fact his son was so attached to Wes. He wondered for a moment if he would deny his son that friendship out of spite.

“Very well,” the Dark One said finally. “The Savior can handle my son when he is in your residence, but you may not unless his life is on the line, and I will not approach, look or speak to your little brats. I trust you are alright with Belle handling your son?”

“Aye,” Killian responded with a firm nod.

“Then we are in agreement and we’re done here,” Rumpelstiltskin replied with a stiff nod and a dramatic flourishing movement of his hand. He then picked up the black ledger on the counter and turned on his heel to return back into the depths of the building. “Now, get out of my shop.”

Killian nearly snorted in response. He didn’t want to be in the Dark One’s shop longer than was absolutely necessary. He turned, walked out the door and for the first time since he settled in Storybrooke, he left Gold’s Pawnshop with a good feeling in his chest.

* * *

 

 

Later that day after returning to the station and dealing with ridiculous complaints brought in by the dwarves, Killian joined his wife in helping pick up their children from school. They both waited outside, leaning against the Bug with coffee and hot chocolate in hand respectively.

“So, are you finally going to tell me exactly what this business you had going on was this morning?” His wife asked him with a gentle tilt of her head.

“Perhaps later,” Killian replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer. “All you need to know for the moment is that it was resolved and things are going to be better for now on.”

Emma frowned in response. Her eyebrows bunched together as she tried to understand what his vague response might mean and what exactly it was referring to.

“And they weren’t before…?”

“Things were absolutely fine, but this...this needed to be done as something more pre-emptive than proactive,” Killian struggled to explain, rubbing the pad of his thumb into her shoulder. He really didn’t want to tell Emma about his visit with the Dark One, at least not now while they were in public and about to see their children. Killian would rather Emma not be mad at him for the rest of the evening, stewing and thinking on ways to punish him.

“Daddy!” Beth came thundering out of the crowd of children, racing towards them at breakneck speed. Emma made a noise of amusement beside him as they watched her.

“How come I don't get that enthusiasm?” She asked wryly.

Killian only had time to give her a small shrug before Beth collided with his leg, tugging on his jeans in impatience. The corners of her big green eyes crinkled at him and the smile on her face made his heart grow a few sizes larger. It was the type of expression that made him not regret confronting the Dark One earlier that day. He picked her up and planted a kiss on the side of her head.

“I had a talk with Mr. Gold today, love. No more mean stares,” he whispered lowly into her ear as she nuzzled her face into his leather jacket.

“No more?” She looked up at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

“No more,” he replied, kissing her hair again to hide his expression from his wife, who was no doubt wondering what the hell was going on between the two of them. Not now. He would tell her later. It was better to explain it without their children milling about.

“What am I chopped liver?” Emma asked their daughter in mock outrage, placing her hands on her hips.

Beth giggled and Killian moved to put her down, giving her dark curls a quick parting ruffle as he did so. As Beth approached Emma, their boys came out of the fray of school kids. Harrison had his hand on Wes’s shoulder, an obvious sign he had been trying to weave them through the masses without Wes running off as he was custom to do. Wes smirked as he caught sight of his sister and a gleam of childish wickedness entered his blue eyes. It was in this moment Killian knew his son was up to no good.

“Hey Beth!” Wes called. His arm stretched out and made a grabbing motion. “Kali ma!!!”

Beth's reaction was immediate. Her eyes went wide with fear, all color leaving her rosy pink cheeks. She shrieked and frantically tried to climb up Emma’s body like a haggard squirrel from a hunting dog. Emma picked her up immediately and rubbed a hand down Beth's back in an attempt to soothe her while giving their son a reproachful frown. Killian watched the scene in confusion, not quite understanding what Wes was referring to and why it scared Beth so much.

“Kali ma, Beth, kali ma!” Wes cackled and Harrison gave his younger brother an almost reproachful whack on the head.

“Shut up!” His eldest hissed. “It's like you're trying to get in trouble. Do you even think?”

“What is going on?” Emma hissed, glaring daggers at their sons. Killian placed a hand of solidarity on Emma's shoulder and glared at them as well, waiting for an answer. He hated it whenever his children antagonized each other. They had no idea how lucky they were to have one another. What he would give to have Liam back alive again...

“They're trying to take my heart like Indy!!!” Beth cried, hiding her face in Emma’s neck. Killian froze at her words and he could see his wife stiffen out of the corner of his eye. They shared a look over their daughter’s head, both wide eyed and alarmed.

Emma looked positively murderous when she returned her attention to their sons, still rubbing little circles into Beth’s back. Killian shared the same sentiment. Both boys took a step backward at the intensity of the combined power of their parents’ anger.

“What's this about heart taking?” Killian hissed, his eyes narrowed to slits. The last people he suspected of this “heart taking” nonsense regarding Beth were his boys, mainly because he hadn't suspected them to have any knowledge on his past history with the Dark One. However, it seemed they had discovered a different story to terrorize their sister with. He was going to make them swab the Jolly stem to stern.

“It's just Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Dad. It's a joke. No big deal,” Wes replied with a wave of his hand, as if he hadn't just scared the living day lights out of his sister.

“That movie is PG-13, Westley Graham Jones, you have no business watching it,” Emma scolded. “That movie is far too graphic for you.”

“Henry and Harrison were watching it last weekend and I didn't want to be left out!” Wes half-replied, half-pouted. Harrison, who was also nowhere near thirteen-years old, widened his eyes in alarm as his younger brother ratted him out and he gave the boy another whack, but Wes kept talking. “It was cool! And the weird priest who took out the hearts looked like Mr. Gold!”

Killian, who had never seen the movie being referred to in this conversation, stared at Wes, the muscle in his cheek twitching at the mention of the Dark One and he glanced at Emma out of the corner of his eye to see her reaction to the proclamation. She looked less than pleased.

“He did not look like Mr. Gold,” Harrison replied with a roll of his eyes.

“Yes he did!” Wes argued. “He was old and weird and creepy. But mainly old.”

Both Killian and Emma couldn’t help but snort at the Wes’s description, and sensing that he had amused his parents, their youngest son offered them a cheeky grin that was a little too similar to Killian’s own for his liking. He caught Emma’s expression and he could tell that she was thinking the same thing by the way she was shaking her head.

“I hope you didn’t tell Gideon you think that about his dad,” Harrison responded, sounding more like an exasperated parent than a nine-year old boy. Killian’s eldest son had the air of an old soul.

Wes was suspiciously silent, looking down at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen in his very few years old life. He scratched the back of his ear and worried the pavement with the toe of his shoe. Both of these were his son’s biggest tells whenever he was feeling guilty about something. Killian had to bite his lip to keep from chuckling at his son’s apparent rudeness. Of course, Wes would tell Gideon what he thought about his father. The boy had absolutely no filter and it was going to put him in a world of trouble someday. Killian was more than prepared to bail the boy out however.

“Oh my god! You’re the worst!” Harrison groaned in response and gave his younger brother a look that was caught between indignation and horrified; what any proper parent should give his son whenever his child was being insolent. However, Killian felt no inclination to yell at Wes for insulting the Dark One to his son’s face. That was a job for Emma.

“You shouldn’t say things like that, Wes, whether you think they’re true or not, you shouldn’t say them because they hurt people’s feelings,” Emma sighed, still rubbing their daughter’s back. It was three o’clock and she already looked like she wanted to call it a day. “You’re going to apologize to Gideon tomorrow. No ifs, ands or buts about it. However, right now, you’re going to apologize to your sister and tell her how very sorry you are and that you are not going to take her heart.”

“Sorry Beth…” Wes half-stated, half-mumbled. “I’m sorry I scared you. And I’m not gonna take your heart.”

“Good. You’re both helping your dad clean up the Jolly this weekend, I hope you realize that,” Emma replied, catching Killian’s eye and offering him a grin. Killian grinned back at her. Sometimes it amazed him how well she could read his thoughts; almost as well as he could read hers. She then pressed a kiss to Beth’s forehead and turned her attention to her.

“No one is going to take your heart, Sweetheart,” she said gently. “No one. Not your brothers. Not the creepy priest from a movie you shouldn’t be watching. Not any bad guys. Not even Mr. Gold. Or Auntie Regina. Or the postman. Or the neighbor with the annoying cat across the street. Mommy and Daddy are gonna protect you from everything and everyone, including the stupid things your brothers do to scare you, got it?”

Beth nodded her head against Emma’s shoulder.

“I know, Mommy. Daddy told me last night. He also gave me his pirate necklace and told Mr. Gold not to look mean anymore.”

Killian closed his eyes at his daughter’s words. Now that was the betrayal that he really never saw coming; his daughter ratting him out to his wife. He opened his eyes and saw his wife staring at him. Her eyebrow was quirked and the corners of her lips were twitching, but more importantly than that, her eyes were trying to drill a hole into his head.

“Really now?” Emma asked their daughter facetiously. “I didn’t know Daddy did that. It looks like Daddy and I are going to be talking about a lot of things later…”

Killian sighed. Well, three centuries of life was a good enough run. He just hoped that Emma would be merciful later when she killed him. They could officially put on his new gravestone, “Killian Jones, died officially trying to do right by his kids. Betrayed by said kids.”


End file.
